An African immigrant to Italy revealed this week that he had been so inspired by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, that he named his child after him. "I like the way Berlusconi talks, the way he moves. I like him as a person," said Ghanian Anthony Boahene, who moved to Italy in 2002. Mr Boahene wants his son to be a politician. The 36-year-old metalworker was quoted as saying: "This child will become president. Of Ghana or of Italy, it doesn't matter."

In 2002, a father in Germany hit the headlines when he was fined for naming his son Osama bin Laden. But in which country is there a whole village of children dedicated to the name of that other opponent of the Western world, Saddam Hussein? Itís India. In 2007, after Saddam's execution, there were reportedly more than 100 Saddam Husseins in 27 adjoining villages dominated by mostly Sunni Muslims in the northern Indian state of Bihar.

Celebrities like to out-do each other in the strange-name stakes. Actor Nicholas Cage has a child named Kal-El, after the birth name of which comic book character? It's Superman's Kryptonian birth name. Cage was once set to star in a Superman project by Tim Burton, but it didn't get off the ground.

The latest statistics of baby names released by the US social security administration show that in 2008, both Barack and Beckham were popular baby names. Which was the most favoured? There were more nappy-clad Beckhams. For the first time, the name Beckham made the top 1,000 US baby names, coming in 893rd place, while the name of the future US president was 2,409th, up from 12,535 in 2007.

In 2008, a row between a US family and their local supermarket hit the headlines. The supermarket had refused to provide a birthday cake for the couple's three-year-old, that would read: Happy Birthday to Adolf Hitler. The supermarket - ShopRite - also refused to make a cake for Adolf's sister Aryan Nation, who was turning two shortly afterwards.

Two years ago, a judge in New Zealand made a girl a ward of court so she could change her name. He also rebuked the parents for giving it to her. What was the offending name? It's Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing.

Sweden has strict naming laws. In 2007 authorities rejected the name Metallica - after the rock group. It had previously rejected Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 - pronounced Albin. But which of the following did pass muster? Google Kai was named by his parents, search engine expert Elias Kai and his wife Carol, in 2005.